Rougham Airfield

The Rougham Airfield Site, the Control Tower and other buildings

A Brief History of Rougham (Bury St Edmunds) - Station 468

The airfield was historically called Rougham Airfield, situated as it is to the North of Rougham village between what is now the A14 trunk road (formerly the A45) and the railway line between Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds, the seat of Local Government close by and by which name the airfield was also known. Please click here for a map of the airfield and the locality.

The airfield was constructed in 1941/42 by Richard Costain Limited and brought into service as a USAAF airfield. It was constructed to a standard design having a 2000 yard main runway aligned East-West and two other smaller runways running South East-North West and South West-North East. The airfield had two T2-type hangars, a technical site and living accommodation for 3000 personnel. It became officially Station 468

After a brief period when the airfield accommodated the 47th Bomb Group who were equipped with A-20 Havocs, the 322nd Bomb Group arrived in December 1942. Their aircraft, B-26 Marauders, arrived in May 1943. The tragic history of the 322nd is documented on this page.

In June 1943 the 94th Bomb Group moved from its then base at Earls Colne in Essex and the 322nd moved in the opposite direction because the airfield at Earls Colne was not suitable for B-17 operations. Rougham was much better suited to larger aircraft and so the association between the 94th BG and Rougham (Bury St Edmunds) began.

While at Rougham the 94th flew more than 300 missions including Regensburg and Brunswick for which the group was given one of two Presidential Citations.

The 94th was one of the last units to return to the United States after the Second World War, having stayed to carry out missions of leafleting and movement of displaced persons. The group left Bury St Edmunds in December 1945 and the site returned to the control of the Royal Air Force.

The main building, the Control Tower passed into residential use until recently when restoration of the Tower to its original condition was begun by the Rougham Tower Association, work which continues today.

The Tower and the airfield, then and now While the Control Tower remains at the focus of attention, many other buildings survive in their original but unrestored condition. Substantial work has been carried out to catalogue the buildings in word and image form. The two images here show the tower as it was in 1943 and as it is today. The pictures are taken from slightly different angles but for reference the main door can be seen in both pictures below and to the left of the large white letter "I" (standing for "inert" and painted in a special paint so as to be a visible signal of the presence of gas). As can be seen, the "glass-house" has yet to be restored and reconstructed on the roof of the building, work which is scheduled to be carried out in 2001. The interior of the building has been restored to good condition. The original eucalyptus wood flooring is in excellent condition still despite the "temporary" intentions of the original buildings.

The tower in 1943 The tower today

Nissen or Quonset Hut restored With the help of a generous grant from St Edmundsbury Borough Council and a substantial donation from a veteran of the 94th, it has recently been possible to restore one of the Nissen huts to mint condition. This makes working conditions for the restorers much more bearable and facilitates the task of restoration, for which the Association is immensely grateful.

Future restoration work

There is much to be done and no time to be lost because without a great deal of work, time and the weather will continue their ravages as can be seen from another of the buildings on site.

This building lies close by the control tower (seen in the background). It is in its original unrestored condition; in a sorry state. The erosion of wind and rain are clear to see. If buildings are allowed simply to fade away, they will do just that - fade away. And with it will disappear the chance to preserve the heritage left to us by some very brave young men who died for us. The tower was also in poor shape. But not now.

That's why we exist. That's why we need your help and your support.
Join the RTA today!

See the restoration of the Tower in greater detail